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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Warren (APA-53)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Uniform - Golf
NKUG

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

Sumter Class Attack Transport

Laid down, 19 April 1942, as SS Jean Lafitte, a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-E1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 415), at Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, AL.

Launched, 7 September 1942

Assigned to the Navy as a Naval Transport (AP-98) and renamed Warren

Reclassified as Attack Transport (APA-53), 1 February 1943

Acquired by the Navy and placed in partial commission,19 February 1843, for transit to her conversion yard, CDR. William A. McHale USNR (APA Ferry Crew #5) in command

Decommissioned, 10 March 1943, at Bethlehem Steel Corp., Baltimore, MD. for fitting out as an Attack Transport

Converted to an Attack Transport at Key Highway Plant, Bethlehem Steel Corp., Baltimore MD.

Recommissioned USS Warren (APA-53), 2 August 1943, CDR. William A. McHale USNR in command

During WWII USS Warren was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
TransRon Twelve, COMO. H.B. Knowles USN (17);
TransDiv Thirty-Six, CAPT. G.W. Johnson USN (18) and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Marshall Islands operation Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (Roi and Namur), 31 January to 8 February 1944	Leyte operation Leyte landings, 16 to 22 October and 14 November 1944
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Guam, 20 to 25 July 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 2 to 15 January 1945
Western Caroline Islands operation Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 5 September to 14 October 1944

Following World War II USS Warren was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal	China Service Medal (extended)
13 to 29 September 1945	2 to 11 October 1945
	22 October to 16 November 1945

Decommissioned, 14 March 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946

USS Warren earned five battle stars for World War II service

Returned to the Maritime Commission at Mobile, AL, 1 August 1946 for disposal

Merchant History

Sold to Waterman Steamship Co., 10 February 1947, for $957,818.00, renamed SS Arizpa

Ownership passed to Waterman Airlines, 5 May 1949

Converted to a container vessel for Sea-Land Service, 13 May 1965

Operated by Litton Industries Leasing Corp, Wilmington, DE., 1966 through 1976

Operated by Reynolds Leasing Corp, Wilmington, DE., 1976 through 1979,

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 8 September 1977, scrapped at Brownsville, TX.

Specifications:
Displacement 13,910 t.(fl)
Length 468' 9"
Beam 63'
Draft 23' 3"
Speed 16.5 kts.

Complement

38 Officers

619 Enlisted

Troop Accommodations

93 Officers

1,400 Enlisted

Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.

Cargo Capacity 1,300 DWT

non-refrigerated 170,000 cu. ft.

Armament

two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

ten single 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 8,575 Bbls

Diesel 750 Bbls

Propulsion

one General Electric geared turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers, 450psi 750°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gear

three turbo-drive Ship's Service Generators, 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.

single propeller, 6,000shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS Warren (APA-53)
	18k	Namesake Joseph Warren—born on 11 June 1741 at Roxbury, Mass.—graduated with distinction from Harvard College in 1759. After a year as headmaster of the Roxbury Grammar School, he entered the medical profession and later practiced as a physician in Boston. There, he became interested in politics and formed an early association with the firebrand Samuel Adams. As the break in relations between the colonies and Great Britain approached, Warren abandoned his medical practice to enter military service. While still in Boston, he dispatched William Dawes and Paul Revere on their famous nocturnal rides to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of approaching British troops on 18 April 1775. Elected a major general by the provincial congress on 14 June, Warren went out to Bunker Hill to look over the defenses shortly before the British attack on the afternoon of 17 June 1775. Although he consistently refused to take command, claiming that he would take part in the battle only as a volunteer, Warren eventually tried to exert leadership in rallying the colonial militia at Breed's Hill. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed by a British soldier while engaged in the attempt. (US Naval Historical Center) Image from: American Revolution.com	Bill Gonyo
	48k	*USS Warren* (APA-53)** under way, date and location unknown.	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
	339k	*USS Warren* (APA-53)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Dan Callahan
	64k	*USS Warren* (APA-53)** at Hampton Roads, 23 August 1943, her decks crowded with a landing craft and antiaircraft guns. US National Archives photo # (80-G-78655, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
100305310	253k	*USS Warren* (APA-53)** flying a "Homeward Bound Pennant" as she enters San Francisco Bay, 17 December 1945. Note the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance aft of the ship and all the troops topside. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 78160	Darryl Baker
Merchant Service Waterman SS Corp. Sea-Land Services
	626k	Ex-*USS Warren* (APA-53)** (far left) in merchant service as the Waterman Lines SS Arizpa working cargo at Bremen, Germany, c. 1957	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	101k	SS Arizpa on the Weser River, approaching Bremen, Germany, March 1962.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	467k	SS Arizpa in Waterman Steam Ship Co. colors, moored in a US Gulf port., date unknown. Originally copyrighted by Alex Duncan	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	95k	Waterman SS Co.'s SS Arizpa moored, probably in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, date unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	68k	SS Arizpa in a US port after being reconfigured as a containership flying the Sea-Land Service colors, date unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus

USS Warren (APA-53)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
	CDR. McHale, William Alfred, USNR (APA Ferry Crew #5)	19 February 1943 - 10 March 1943
	Decommissioned	10 March 1943 - 2 August 1943
01	CDR. McHale, William Alfred, USNR	2 August 1943 - 30 October 1944
02	CDR. Stokes, Elmer Sydney	30 October 1944 - 14 March 1946


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 25 March 2022